The present invention relates to an orthotic vending machine, a method of measuring a pressure distribution on underside surfaces of a person's feet, a method of fabricating orthotics, a method of marketing orthotics in a retail environment, and a process of delivering custom products (e.g., customized orthotics, etc.) at the Point of Purchase.
The human foot is an engineering marvel having an intricate biomechanical composition of twenty-six bones, thirty-three joints and a complicated arrangement of muscles and ligaments. The bones, joints, and muscles intricately cooperate with each other to propel the person over an average of 100,000 miles during the person's life. Unfortunately, such repetitive and demanding use of the foot magnifies any minor foot problem into a major issue.
Foot problems affect the person's comfort level while standing, walking, or running. Moreover, foot problems may affect other areas of the person's body. For example, foot problems may affect the person's posture over a long period of time. Additionally, pain or injury may appear in the person's feet, ankles, shins, knees, hips or back.
Over-the-counter orthotics may be purchased to address foot problems. Unfortunately, over-the-counter orthotics do not appropriately resolve most foot problems. Moreover, the foot problems that over-the-counter orthotics do resolve are not always resolved effectively. Many foot problems are not effectively resolved using over-the-counter orthotics because over-the-counter (OTC) orthotics are typically designed for the average foot and do not take into consideration the wide degree of variance in foot structure, contour, gait, pronation, and supination unique to each person.
A large population does not fit within the average category, and over-the-counter products do not effectively address the foot problems of these users. Even if there is an OTC product that works for an individual finding it is a challenge since there are so many products to choose from.
Furthermore, not only are our feet unique compared to everyone else, our own two feet maybe different thereby necessitating a different orthotic for each foot. Simply put, each person needs a customized orthotic for each foot to redistribute pressures applied to the underside surfaces of the person's feet based on the unique combination of foot to foot differences, foot contour, body weight, life style, and other factors.
In the alternative, a person may purchase customized orthotics from a podiatrist. The podiatrist may form a mold of the person's feet or take an electronic contour reading. The mold/reading is sent to an orthotics manufacturer for fabrication. The orthotic manufacturer may fabricate the customized orthotics based on the mold/reading and send the fabricated orthotics to the doctor or directly to the patient. Unfortunately, customized orthotics may be cost and time prohibitive. Customized orthotics take approximately one to eight weeks to manufacture and deliver to the patient. Moreover, customized orthotics are costly, from several hundred dollars to $1,200.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method of fabricating orthotics and providing orthotics to patients. There is also a need in the art for improved orthotics.